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0513 First Language Turkish June 2008
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Paper 0513/01
Reading
General comments
Question 1
In general candidates performed quite well on this question with all candidates tackling the ten subquestions. Even candidates whose level of reading comprehension was rather weak, perhaps because of
limited use of Turkish in their daily life and/or lack of formal study of the language, demonstrated that they
understood the gist of the two passages and were able to answer the questions that required understanding
and collating of explicit meanings. Questions (b), (g) and (h) on the other hand enabled stronger
candidates to show their understanding of the implicit meanings and attitudes. These candidates were also
more competent in scanning for the relevant information and writing exactly what is required to answer the
question.
In this question candidates are instructed to answer in their own words. They are also informed that their
answers will be marked for writing skills (5 marks). Some candidates demonstrated that they had a good
level of reading comprehension by referring to the appropriate part of the text to answer the question, but
rather than re-phrasing what they understand and putting it in their own words, they lifted the answer from
the text which lost them marks because they were not demonstrating their writing skills.
Some candidates put rather too much of their own personal contribution in their responses, stating facts or
making claims that are not in the given texts as well as expressing their thoughts and feelings. This does not
earn additional marks because it is often irrelevant to the question being asked. Candidates may even lose
marks by writing too much and expecting the Examiner to select the really relevant/required information.
Question 2
As in Question 1, all the candidates tackled this question. A few candidates wrote two summaries,
summarising passage A and B separately. Some candidates only summarised one of the passages. Both
cases show the vital need for familiarization with the First Language syllabus including the assessment
objectives and question types. Candidates are required to write a summary based on both passages.
Although this question does assess the writing skills of the candidates (5 marks), candidates are expected to
write a summary of the two texts to show they have understood what they read and can re-phrase it in a
summary format.
This question does not require candidates to write their about own thoughts and experiences. Some
candidates like to take side with or against the author which is fine as long as most of their writing reflects a
summary of the two texts. A summary is not a “composition” about the thoughts/feelings/ideas that the two
passages evoke in the candidate. It does not require comments on the ideas/thoughts/facts presented in the
texts, neither does it have to end with a personal verdict.
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© UCLES 2008
0513 First Language Turkish June 2008
FIRST LANGUAGE TURKISH
Paper 0513/02
Writing
All the topics in the two sections were selected by candidates but some topics proved to be more popular.
Section 1
Topic (a) asked candidates what they thought about wearing uniforms in schools. This was the most popular
topic.
Topic (b) asked candidates their views about whether or not to build a dam over a precious archaeological
site.
Topic (c) asked candidates whether they would agree to lower the age limit to be elected Prime Minister from
fifty, as it is now, to twenty five.
Topic (d) asked candidates what they thought about single and mixed sex schools.
Section 2
Topic (a) asked candidates to write the speech they would make addressing voters for the parliamentary
elections, and to describe the country they would want to create if they were elected.
Topic (b) asked candidates to describe the city in which they live, with its location in the country, geography,
important structures and the role of the city in determining its citizens' lifestyle.
Topic (c) asked candidates to describe the day a sister, brother or someone they feel close to was born.
Topic (d) asked candidates to write a story using the statements given in the question somewhere in their
story. This was the most popular topic.
Candidates performed slightly better in Section 2 as they seem to like describing and narrating better than
arguing or discussing. Story telling continues to be the favourite choice. Although the stories are not always
very sophisticated, most of the candidates demonstrated a good skill at developing a story, creating an
atmosphere and engaging the reader.
General comments
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For an argumentative topic candidates are expected to try to prove a point by reasoning. This
means arguing an issue by presenting facts and reasons in support of a position that may be
opposed by others.
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For a discursive topic candidates are expected to proceed to a conclusion through reasoning. This
means discussing an issue by examining the pros and cons of that issue, creating an opportunity for
readers to decide which side they want to take.
A discursive or argumentative piece of writing is not a mere list of claims. The writing objectives of
this examination are not only ‘expressing what is thought, felt and imagined’ but also ‘ordering and
presenting facts, ideas and opinions’.
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A narrative essay is essentially a story about something that happened. The candidate is expected
to try to make his/her text lively and interesting and to try to engage the reader's interest by adding
details or personal observations.
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© UCLES 2008
0513 First Language Turkish June 2008
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A descriptive essay describes a person, place, thing or event in a way that helps the reader form a
mental picture of what is being written about. This type of writing requires a language that appeals
to the senses.
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It helps if candidates can demonstrate a clear sense of audience. For example topic (a) this year,
requires a very different register from all the other three topics: a sincere but much more formal style.
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It is important to write in well-constructed paragraphs dealing with a certain point of the subject in
each one.
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Each piece of writing needs to have a structure: an introduction, at least one paragraph of
development and a conclusion which is a restatement of the main point stated in the introduction not a repetition of the thesis sentence but rather some sentences to emphasize the message to the
reader.
•
Varied use of words and expressions to manage an argument, discussion, story or description is a
good way of increasing marks in this section of the paper.
•
The writing skills required for this paper seem to have been carefully practiced in many Centres.
Spelling and punctuation and wrong usage mistakes are decreasing every year. However there are
some common repeated mistakes. This year’s common language mistakes consist of previous
years and some new ones.
Common language mistakes (found in Papers 1 and 2)
●
Using ‘fazla’ instead of ‘çok’ or vice versa is incorrect, e.g.’olumlu sonuçları da fazladır’.
‘Fazla’ - adverb meaning - unnecessary/needless/excessive/uncalled for (Gereksiz, yersiz bir
biçimde), more than what is necessary, proper, acceptable, appropriate and what is accustomed to
(Gereğinden, alışılmıştan çok olarak).
The word ‘fazla’ has rather a negative meaning, very similar to the way that ‘too’ can have in English.
‘cok’, is the counterpart of ‘very’. If you say “Milli takımın taraftarları çok fazla tezahürat yaptılar./
National team’s fans cheered too much.”, it means may be the match was not played because of
cheers, or something negative happened.
Correct usage: ’Seyirci milli takımına çok tezahürat yaptı, moral verdi./The spectators cheered a
lot/very much and boosted the morale of the national team’ or ‘Seyirci fazla tezahürat yapıp, ortalığı
dağıtınca maç iptal edildi./The match was cancelled when the spectators cheered too much and
turned the place up side down.’
‘Gerçeklik payı çok fazla.’ (wrong) ‘Gerçeklik payı çok.’ (correct)
‘Teknolojiyi en fazla kullanan çocuklardır.’ (wrong) ‘Teknolojiyi en çok çocuklar kullanır.’ (correct)
●
‘ki’ as a suffix/ek: ‘benimki’, ‘karşıdaki’, ’öbürkü (öbürü)’ – ‘ki’ when used as in these examples is a
suffix so it is written as one word with the word used before it (‘bitişik yazılır’).
Correct usage: ‘Bu haftaki programı seyretmedim’, ‘Kapıdaki zili çalmadan kapıyı açmayın', ‘Akşamki
toplantıda başkan kim olacak?’ ‘Bugünkü yemek çok lezzetliydi.’
●
‘ki’ as a conjunction/bağlaç: Apart from few cases like ‘Mademki’ ‘ki’ is written as a seperate word
when it is used as a conjunction (‘ki’ bağlacı, kalıplaştığı birkaç sözcük dışında – ‘Mademki
istiyorsun, git.’- ayrı yazılır)
Correct usage: ‘Sen ki benim en iyi arkadaşımsın, bana bunu nasıl yaparsın!’, ‘Ne var ki kimse
sözümü dinlemedi.’ ‘Bazıları iddia ederler ki bu otların her biri bir ayrı derde devadır.’, ‘Ben ki seni o
kadar çok severim, ben bile bu davranışını hoş karşılamadım.’, ‘Öyle sevimli bir kedi ki her
yaramazlığı bana mutluluk veriyor.’
●
Subject/verb agreement especially with plural indefinite pronouns as subject or indefinite adjective
modifying the subject:
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© UCLES 2008
0513 First Language Turkish June 2008
Birçok gençler törene geç kaldılar. (wrong) Birçok genç törene geç kaldı. (correct usage)
Hiçbiri soruma cevap vermediler. (wrong) Hiçbiri soruma cevap vermedi. (correct usage)
Herkes yerde yatan adamın etrafına toplandılar. (wrong) Herkes yerde yatan adamın etrafına
toplandı. (correct usage)
Birçok kişi kafasını bile çevirmeden uzaklaştılar. (wrong) Birçok kişi kafasını bile çevirmeden
uzaklaştı. (correct usage)
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Starting an answer with the word ‘cünkü’/’because’ or another conjunction.
‘Bağzı’ (wrong), ‘bazı’ (correct)
‘Hernekadar’ (wrong) ‘her ne kadar’ (correct)
‘söğlemek’ (wrong), ‘söylemek’ (correct)
Confusing ‘önce’ with ‘öncelikle’.
Önce (isim/noun):
1. Baştaki, geçmişteki bölüm, geçmiş zaman: "Demin söyledikleri bana sadece daha önce olup
bitenleri düşündürdü." (TDK)
or
2. (zarf/adverb) İlk olarak, başlangıçta, sonra karşıtı: "Önce hep birlikte basın suçunu tarif edelim."
(TDK)
Öncelikle (zarf/adverb): Öne alınarak, daha önce olarak: “Bu tasarı, Mecliste öncelikle görüşülecek."
(TDK)
●
Confusing ‘kulak asmak’ with ‘kulak vermek’.
kulak asmak: önem vermek, dinlemek: "Bunların sözlerine ne diye kulak asıyor, yapacağın işi ona
göre belirliyorsun?" (TDK)
kulak vermek: merak edip dinlemek, işitmeye çalışmak: "Eğil de kulak ver, bu sessiz yığın / Bir
vatan kalbinin attığı yerdir." (TDK)
●
Using the words ‘unsur’ and ‘etmen’ when they are not needed in a particular context.
incorrect usage has now largely disappeared.
This
etmen (isim): birlikte veya ayrı ayrı etkisini gösteren ve belli bir sonuca götüren güçlerden,
şartlardan, ögelerden her biri, amil, faktör.
unsur (isim): Öge:
●
Confusing the meaning of ‘gıda’ or ‘besin’ (food/foodstuff) or ‘ürün’ (produce) and using them with
the verb ‘dikmek’ (plant/sow) e.g.: ‘İki tarladan birine genetiğiyle oynanmış gıdalar dikiyoruz’ (wrong)
(we sow genetically modified food/produce). The correct word would be ‘tohum’, ‘bitki’ ‘sebze’,
‘meyve’ or ‘tahıl’ (seeds, plants, fruit trees etc.).
●
Using the verb ‘Sağlamak’ which means to prepare the conditions for something to happen /’Bir işin
olması için gerekli şartları hazırlamak.’ and has a positive connotation like the verbs
‘enable’/facilitate/make possible in a negative context.
‘Fazla ilgi göstererek yeni nesli şımarmasını sağlıyorsunuz.’ (wrong) ‘Fazla ilgi göstererek yeni neslin
şımarmasına sebep oluyorsunuz.’ (correct)
‘Psikolojisini kötü etkileyip yalnız kalmak istemesini sağlıyor (wrong) ‘Istemesine sebep/neden
oluyor.’ (correct)
●
Using very informal/spoken language forms like ‘o şekil kaldım’ instead of ‘o şekilde kaldım’, ‘Beş
dakika falan’ instead of ‘beş dakika kadar’.
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Yaklaşık herkes (wrong) Hemen hemen herkes (correct).
Süpriz (wrong) sürpriz (correct)
Mafolmak (wrong) mahvolmak (correct)
Binevi (wrong) bir nevi (bir çeşit) (correct)
Bağtıl (wrong) batıl (çürük, temelsiz, asılsız) (correct)
Confusing sayesinde (which has a positive connotation)
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© UCLES 2008
0513 First Language Turkish June 2008
Bir şeyden dolayı, sebebiyle, yardımıyla: "Çocuk öğrenmişse, ne yapmışsa Ramazan'ın sayesinde
yapmıştı."- H. E. Adıvar. (TDK)
1. With yüzünden (rather negative or showing dissatisfaction or resentment)
-den ötürü: "O da çocuklar yüzünden alışmış, onlar yüzünden daha uygun görmüş, karısına
anne derdi."- S. F. Abasıyanık (TDK)
2. And nedeniyle - den ötürü, - den dolayı, dolayısıyla, sebebiyle, hasebiyle, haysiyetiyle.
3. And dolayı - Ötürü: "Daha dün bu sözümden dolayı okşuyorlardı."- R. H. Karay.
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Disipline olmak (wrong) disiplinli olmak (correct)
Önem göstermek (wrong) önem vermek değer vermek, önemli saymak: "Mustafa Kemal'in
hareketine gittikçe daha çok önem vermektedir."- F. R. Atay. (correct)
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© UCLES 2008